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scotch

 - 9 dictionary results

scotch

1  [skoch]
Use scotch in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to put a definite end to; crush; stamp out; foil: to scotch a rumor; to scotch a plan.
2. to cut, gash, or score.
3. to injure so as to make harmless.
4. to block or prop with a wedge or chock.
–noun
5. a cut, gash, or score.
6. a block or wedge put under a wheel, barrel, etc., to prevent slipping.
Origin:
1375–1425; late ME scocche (n. and v.), perh. b. score and notch (> AF escocher)

scotch

2  [skoch]
–verb (used with object), noun Masonry.
scutch (defs. 2, 4).

Scotch

  [skoch]
–adjective
1. of Scottish origin; resembling or regarded as characteristic of Scotland or the Scottish people (used outside Scotland): Scotch plaid.
2. Sometimes Offensive. Scottish (def. 1).
3. (usually lowercase) Informal. frugal; provident; thrifty.
–noun
4. (used with a plural verb) Sometimes Offensive. the Scottish people; Scots.
5. (often lowercase) Scotch whisky.
6. Sometimes Offensive. Scots (def. 1).
Origin:
1585–95; syncopated var. of Scottish

Usage note:
The natives of Scotland refer to themselves as Scots or, in the singular, Scot, Scotsman, or Scotswoman. The related adjectives are Scottish or, less commonly, Scots. Scotch as a noun or adjective is objected to except when used of whisky and in established phrases like Scotch egg and Scotch pine. In the United States, Scotch is often used where the Scots themselves, or some Americans of Scottish descent, would prefer Scottish or Scots. The term Scotch-Irish is standard in the United States for the descendants of the Scots of Ulster who immigrated to America beginning in the 18th century.

scutch

  [skuhch]
–verb (used with object)
1. to dress (flax) by beating.
2. to dress (brick or stone); scotch.
–noun
3. Also called scutcher. a device for scutching flax fiber.
4. Also, scotch. a small picklike tool with two cutting edges for trimming brick.
Origin:
1680–90; < MF *escoucher (F écoucher) to beat flax < VL *excuticāre, for L excutere (ex- ex- 1 + -cutere, comb. form of quatere to shatter; cf. quash )
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To scotch
scotch 1   (skŏch)   
tr.v.   scotched, scotch·ing, scotch·es

  1. To put an abrupt end to: The prime minister scotched the rumors of her illness with a public appearance.

  2. To injure so as to render harmless.

  3. To cut or score.

n.  

  1. A surface cut or abrasion.

  2. A line drawn on the ground, as one used in playing hopscotch.


[Middle English scocchen, to cut, perhaps from Anglo-Norman escocher, to notch : es-, intensive pref. (from Latin ex-; see ex-) + Old French coche, notch (probably from Latin coccum, scarlet oak berry, from Greek kokkos).]
scotch 2   (skŏch)   
tr.v.   scotched, scotch·ing, scotch·es
To block (a wheel, for example) with a prop to prevent rolling or slipping.
n.  A block or wedge used as a prop behind or under an object likely to roll.

[Origin unknown.]
Scotch   (skŏch)   
n.  

  1. (used with a pl. verb) The people of Scotland.

  2. Scots.

  3. Scotch whisky.

adj.  

  1. Scottish. See Usage Note at Scottish.

  2. Offensive Frugal with one's money.


[Contraction of Scottish.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

scotch  (v.)
"stamp out, crush," 1825, earlier "make harmless for a time" (1798; a sense that derives from the reading of "Macbeth" III.ii.13), from scocchen "to cut, score, gash" (c.1412), perhaps from Anglo-Fr. escocher, O.Fr. cocher "to notch, nick," from coche "a notch, groove," probably from L. coccum "berry of the scarlet oak," which appears notched, from Gk. kokkos.

Scotch  (adj.)
"of Scotland," 1591, contraction of Scottish. Disdained by the Scottish because of the many insulting and pejorative formations made from it by the English (e.g. Scotch attorney, a Jamaica term from 1864 for strangler vines). As a noun, elliptical for Scotch whisky, it is attested from 1778. Scotch-Irish is from 1876; more properly Scots-Irish (1972), from Scots (c.1352), the older adj., which is from Scottis, the northern variant of Scottish. Scotch Tape was said to be so called because at first it had adhesive only on the edges (to make it easier to remove as a masking tape in car paint jobs), which was interpreted as a sign of cheapness on the part of the manufacturers.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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